July 28, 2017

On Health Care and the Motion to Proceed

The GOP's 0-for-3 tally on votes regarding health care this week were a triumph for Americans and a blow for cynicism and bad faith. Many Republicans had actively sabotaged the Affordable Care Act for the last seven years, such as the governors who refused to receive federal funds for health care exchanges and then complained that health care costs were destroying their budgets.

All of the plans offered this week were terrible, potentially leaving millions of people who now have health insurance without it. Despite these findings from the Congressional Budget Office, the GOP claimed that their solutions were salvation for a system that isn't broken. This was the cynicism and bad faith in action. In California, where I live, we have a robust mix of health care exchanges. If state officials want to make this law work, they can.

Despite the bad faith it seemed like the GOP just might get its wish of repealing "Obamacare." In the end all three options failed. The Democrats stood united in opposition, which was a rare sight. The option that got the closest to success, the so-called "skinny repeal," failed 49-51. This would have removed a few regulations and frozen funding for Planned Parenthood for a year, leaving much else in tact. Most Republicans who voted for it did not even like "skinny." They just wanted to use this as a pathetic punt back into the House for a conference committee, where something else that ended health coverage for millions of people may well have emerged.

All 48 Democrats, and three Republicans, voted against skinny. Those Republicans were Senators McCain, Collins, and Murkowski. This was the third and final vote of the week.

None of these votes would have occurred if the Senate had not supported the "motion to proceed" earlier this week. This is the procedural step that enables debate to begin and votes to take place. Many Democratic activists lamented this occurrence, because the motion to proceed opened the possibility of a terrible health care bill becoming law. That was true, but stopping debate in its tracks would have had its own costs. No Senator would have been required to go on the record with their vote, and our tired health care stalemate would have continued. It's better to have debate on the floor of the Senate than to snuff it in its tracks. And in the end the GOP failed anyway.